Memphis-Shelby County school board approves pay raises for school resource officers, STEM lab funding

The Memphis-Shelby County Board of Education approved budget amendments to fund pay raises for school resource officers (SROs) at Tuesday’s special call meeting and work session. 

The funding for SRO raises comes after SROs issued a letter to the board last week demanding that the district offer higher salaries for SROs. The letter urged SROs not to report for duty and encouraged officers not to provide security at football jamborees that are usually scheduled for Thursday and Friday nights, which have led to violence in the past. After several recent board session discussions regarding the budget, officials ultimately decided to fund salary increases for about 125 mobile security officer positions and eight sergeant positions and makes starting salaries $25 an hour, among other measures.

“Our district is fine. I’m thankful to the SROs, and I’m thankful to the Safety and Security Department who has demonstrated support on the other side of this experience,” Superintendent Marie Feagins said of the decision.

The decision comes shortly after the hiring and subsequent resignation of the district’s former Executive Director of Safety Lt. George Harris. According to a report from Chalkbeat, his resignation came after school board member Stephanie Love emailed Feagins and other members on Aug. 16 about allegations that Harris had misappropriated funds during his time in Detroit, which came to school board officials' attention shortly after his appointment to the role.

“After receiving [the report about Harris], we reviewed it, and I agreed to accept the individual’s resignation based on what I thought would be a poor reflection of our district,” Feagins said, adding that she was previously unaware of some his background details.

Whitehaven teacher Wayne Hawkins speaks about the need for a STEM lab in the district at Tuesday’s work session meeting. (Screenshot)

In other business, the board also approved plans to reallocate $2.3 million for the construction of a new science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education lab at Whitehaven High School. The decision comes after Shelby County Commissioner Edmund Ford Jr. called on local officials to provide that funding, which the board had previously promised. The rest of the funding for the $9.5 million capital project came from the commission and community fundraising efforts.

Several community members attended the meeting to urge board members to approve its portion of the funding, including Whitehaven teacher Wayne Hawkins, who said the decision was a “slam dunk.” He said the project will provide a space for students to build skills relating to science and technology, adding that STEM skills are important in today's tech-integrated job market.

“We should have already done this,” he said. “The STEM building is not just for Whitehaven, it’s for Memphis.”